Eight More Questions asked on Quora by the Taiwan-Curious

Eight More Questions asked on Quora by the Taiwan-Curious. Our first question this month concerns fine dining in Taipei: ... menu Searchfor: StarttypingandpressEntertosearch opensearchform closesearchform Skiptocontent OurfirstquestionthismonthconcernsfinedininginTaipei: Q1.WhatarethebestFrenchrestaurantsinTaipei? OK,keepinginmindthat“best”isdefinitelyamatterofopinion,thebestFrenchrestaurantthatI’veeatenatinTaipeiisdefinitelyOrchid(Chinesenameis蘭),whichistheDa’anDistrictonSection2,AnheRoad,83號.I’veeatentheretwiceinthepastcoupleofmonths,bothtimesonassignmentformagazinearticlesaboutTaiwan’shautecuisinescene.HeadedbychefGildasPerin(whobringshisyearsofexperienceatMichelin-starredrestaurantsinFranceaswellasYannickAlléno’sSTAYTaipei),OrchidservesaModernFrenchtastingmenuwithTaiwanesehospitalityinadistinctivesetting.Whileborrowingflavorsfromlocalingredients,themenuisdefinitelyrootedinFrenchcooking,respectingsolidandtraditionalmethodsofsaucemaking.SoforFrenchcuisineinTaiwan,that’dbeourfirstchoice. Ourguestcolumnist,HungryGirlinTaipei,wroteaboutherexperiencesatOrchidandfiveotherMichelin-starrestaurantsinTaipeiinthisarticle,sofeelfreetocheckitout:CelebratingMichelinGastromonthinTaipei Hopethishelps,andBonappetite! Next,weansweredsomethingmorespecifictoglutenfreetravel. Q2.WhataresomegoodglutenfreeoptionsatChineserestaurants? OneofourregularcolumnistsatTaiwanScenehasprettyseriousceliacsdisease–thewaythatshedescribesit,ifshegetsadoseofwheatinherfood,she’sbasicallyinaworldofpainforhours.SinceshelivesinTaiwan,she’sdevelopedacoupleofdifferentstrategiesforavoidinggluten.First,obviously,she’smemorizedacoupleofphrasesinMandarin: Iamallergictowheat/我對小麥過敏/Wǒduìxiǎomàiguòmǐn Isthemostimportantone,butoneproblemisthatsomesoysauceshavewheat“thickeners”inthem.Notall,justsome.Butsincesoysauceisinalmosteverything,shegenerallyavoidsitentirelybysaying“Iamallergictosoysauce”(我對醬油過敏/Wǒduìjiàngyóuguòmǐnand“Don’taddsoysauce”(不要加醬油/Bùyàojiājiàngyóu). Second,avoidtheobviousthingslikenoodles,anythingcoatedinflouranddeepfried(eggrolls,obviously).Ricenoodlesareagoodalternative,asarefreshspringrolls. Ifyou’respecificallylookingtoeatgluten-freeinTaiwan,thesearethetwoarticlesthatStephanieHuffmanwroteforTaiwanSceneonthesubject. GlutenFreeEatinginTaiwanPartOne:RestaurantDining GlutenFreeEatinginTaiwan(PartTwo):WheatFreeSnacksandGlutenFreeNightMarketFare Hopethishelps! OurnextanswermovedfromfoodstostufftodoinTaiwan Q3.Whataresomemust-dothingsinTaiwan? Difficulttoanswerthisquestionwithoutknowingwhatyou’relookingfor.Taiwanisdefinitelynotaone-trickponytraveldestination.We’remoreofasmorgasbordofeverythingfromcultureandhistorytofoodandnightlifetonatureandwildlife…andthatdoesn’tevencovereverything. Isthereanythingspecificyou’relookingtoexperiencehere?Ifyou’rejustlookingforideas,comecheckoutourwebsite,TaiwanScene.Hereareafewlinkstodifferentsections: Action,Sports&Adventure–TaiwanScene Festivals,History&Culture–TaiwanScene Food&Drink–TaiwanScene Ifyou’relookingtogotospecificplacesinTaiwan,justcheckoutPlaces–TaiwanScene. Anyway,hopethishelps. Ourfourthanswerthismonthconcerned underratedthingstodoinTaipei. Q4.WhatareunderratedthingstodoinTaipei? That’sadarngoodquestion,onewithmanypossibleanswers.SoI’mgoingtogowithasimpleone,andmaybenotthefirstansweryou’dexpectfromasomeoneonQuoraworkingforaTaipei-basedtravelcompanythatexiststoshowpeoplearoundTaiwan. ThemostunderratedactivityinTaipeiiswandering. Headtoprettymuchanyneighborhoodandwanderaround.Don’tjuststicktothemainavenues.Wanderthroughthesmallerlanesandalleysthatconnectthemainstreets.Whatmightyoucomeacrossinyourwandering? Interestingartworkonthesidesofwalls. Outofthewaytemplesnotinguidebooks. Oldhousesbeingtakenoverbynature Trees,gardensandgymequipment(Iwasstandingonthegymequipmenttoshoottheabovephoto). Smalldogswearingboots. These,ofcourse,arefiverandomexamplesoutofanendlessvarietyofpossibilities.Dayornight,thestreetsaresafe.Don’tworryaboutgettinglost–indeed,that’skindofthepoint.Unlessyou’reseriouslyontheedgeoftown,you’lleventuallyhitamainavenueifyoujustkeepwalkinginthesamedirection.Ifyougethungry,you’llcomeacrossa7–11,FamilyMartorrandomcoffeeshopornoodlejointbeforetoolong. Ifyou’reontheedgeoftown,wanderinginvariousdirectionsmaybringyoutooutoftownentirely,sounlessyou’repreparedforahikebesttoturnback.(Thatsaid,therearelovelyhikingtrailsalloverTaipei.)Ifyou’refeelingadventurous,hoponabusandhopoffinanareathatstrikesyouasinteresting.Ifyou’refeelingreallyadventurous,taketheMRTtotheendofthelineandwanderaround. RandomwanderingmaybeTaipei’sgreatestunsungtouristattraction. Thefifthquestionrequiredabitofresearchonourpart: Q5.DoesTaipei101havebaseisolatorstopreventfromearthquakes? Definitelyaworthyquestionconsideringthatoneoftheworld’stallestbuildingshappenstoalsobelocatedinoneoftheplanet’smostearthquake-proneareas.Restassuredthatthepotentialfrequencyandmagnitudeofearthquakes(nottomentionthepredictablymore-frequenthighwindsthatoccurduringTaiwan’styphoonseason)weretakenintoaccountineverystageofTaipei101’sconstruction.Indeed,oneofthemainattractionsofthebuilding(nexttothespectacularviewfromthetopandmaybetheawesomefoodcourtinthebasement)isthemassiveinternaldamper(nicknameddamperbaby),whichcontrolswayingandminimizesthepossibilityofstructuraldamagetothebuildingduringearthquakesorhighwinds.Thedamperisamassiveyellowglobethathangssuspendedfromeightsteelcablesinthecenterofthebuildingbetweenthe87thand91stfloors. (ImageSource:Someformofhuman/CreativeCommons) Whenaforcecomesalong,whetherfromaboveorbelow,thispendulumabsorbstheforce.Buildingmanagementhasacamerainstalledthatcontinuallyfilmstheball,andoftenplaysfootageofwhatitlooksliketobeinsideofTaipei101duringanearthquakewiththeballswingingbackandforthwhilethebuildingitselfremainsrelativelystill. ThisisagoodarticlefromSlate/AtlasObscurathat’llgiveyoumoreinformationaboutthebuilding’sconstruction,andhowthedamperballworks: HowtoKeepa101-StorySkyscraperSteadyinHighWinds Goodquestion,thanksforasking! OursixthanswerconcernsTaiwan’sgenerallyopenvisapolicy Q6.Whichcountry’svisadoyouneedtovisitTaiwan? Officiallyspeaking,TaiwanisknownastheRepublicofChina(ROC),nottobeconfusedwiththePeople’sRepublicofChina(PRC).Fromatraveler’spointofview,allyouneedtoknowisthataPRCvisawon’tgetyouintotheROC(andvice-versa).VisasfortravelinTaiwanareobtainedfromavarietyofplaces,generally. Thatsaid,visitingTaiwaniswaylessrestrictivethanvisitingChina.Indeed,Taiwanoffersvisa-freetravelofupto90daysforholdersofpassportsfrom54countries,includingtheEU,USA,Canada,Japanandmanyothers.Clickhereforafulllist. VisitorsfromBelize,theDominicanRepublic,Malaysia.Nauru,SaintKittsandNevis,SaintLucia,SaintVincentandtheGrenadines,andSingaporecantravelvisa-freeforupto30days.Therearealsovariousschemesbywhichnationalsfromvariousothercountriescangetvisasintheairport. Ingeneral,Taiwan’sgovernmenttriestomakeiteasyforforeignnationalstovisitTaiwan.YoucanvisittheofficialBureauofConsularAffairswebsiteifyouhavemorespecificquestions. Itwasbacktoaneasy-to-answerquestionfornumberseven: Q7.IsfootmassageinTaipeigood? Ohdefinitely!We’rebigfansoffootmassageintheMyTaiwanTouroffice,andgowheneverwecan.Onethingtokeepinmindisthetremendousvarietyoffootmassageexperiencesavailable,nottomentiongeneralmassageexperiences.Sinceyou’veaskedspecificallyaboutfootmassage,we’llsticktothat. Sobasically,footmassage(orreflexology)worksonthetheorythatallorgansinthebodyhavecorrespondingreflexologypointsonthesolesofthefeetandthatskillfulmanipulationofthesepointscanbenefitthecorrespondingorgans.AnyoneworkingatanyfootmassageparlorinTaipeishouldhavefullworkingknowledgeofthesepoints.Butwithinthegeneralcategoryof“footmassageplacesinTaiwan”arecountlessvariables.Somepractitionersaregoingtofocusmoreoncomfort–alengthyfootsoakinginscentedwaterfollowedbyagentlemassagedesignedtoleaveyoufeelingrelaxedandrefreshed.Otherpractitionersaregoingtoaimmoreforcuringwhatailsyoubyzeroinginonspecificspotsandapplyinganalmostpainfulamountofpressure,thebenefitofwhichyou’llonlynoticeafterthemassageisover.Buttherearebenefitstobothkindsoffootmassage,withplentyofvariablesinbetween. Furthervariablescanbefoundindecorandambiance.Taipeiofferseverythingfromsuper-fancyspa-likefootmassageplacestoplainerlookinghole-in-the-wallfootmassagespots.We’vegottengreat(andnotsogreat)footmassagesatbothtypesofplaces. Fromanon-Chinesespeakingtraveler’spointofview,herearesomethingstolookfor: DoesthespahaveEnglishsignage?DoesanyoneatthespaspeakenoughEnglishtofacilitatebasiccommunication? Someofthebetterplaceswilloftenhandtouristsalaminatedreflexologymapthattheycanpointtoinordertoindicatewhatspotsthey’dlikethetherapisttoworkon. Anyway,wehopethisanswersyourquestion.Ifyou’relookingforspecifics,thisisanarticleoursistermagazinedidonfivespasinTaipeiworthvisiting. Andwegotmorepersonalwithourlastquestionofthemonth,concerningaplacenearanddeartoourhearts,SunMoonLake: Q8.IsSunMoonLakeinTaiwanworthvisitingforaday? LasttimeIwenttoSunMoonLakemypartnerandIplannedathreeday,two-nighttripfiguringthatwouldbeenough.We’dheardabunchofstuffabouthowovertouristedtheplacewas,sokindofjustmadethetriptocheckitoffourlist. Longstoryshort,wewoundupspendinganextratwodaysthere,becausewewereprettyenchantedoverall. Ithinkwhatsoldusontheplacewasthefactthatwebookedahotelontheless-crowdedsideofthelake(ItaThao)mid-week,sowereallydidn’tseemuchinthewayofcrowds.UsingItaThaoasabase,wetookafewbikerides,tooksomereallynicehikes,visitedsomecooltemples(wewereparticularlyimpressedwiththe XuanzangTemple,whichwastotallynotcrowdedonthedaywevisited),andateplentyofgreatfood.Sospeakingformyself,I’dsayadayisn’tenough. Thatsaid,MyTaiwanTourdoesdoaSunMoonLakeOneDayLeisureTour fromTaipeithataimstohitallthehighlights,soifyouonlyhaveadayI’dsayit’sadecentoption. Hopethisinformationwasuseful! Readmore: SevenMoreQuestionsaskedonQuorabytheTaiwan-Curious SixMoreQuestionsaskedonQuorabytheTaiwan-Curious FiveQuestionsaskedonQuorabytheTaiwan-Curious 分享此文：TwitterFacebookLikethis:LikeLoading... 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